The Yes At Large Campaign for referendum petition drive concluded today with a submission of 2,250 signatures of registered Naperville voters asking the Naperville City Clerk to place the following question on the April 9, 2013 Consolidated Election Ballot:

Shall the city of Naperville elect city council at large instead of the councilmen at large and part of the councilmen from districts?

Campaign Co-Chairs, Dean Reschke and Rebecca Obarski expressed their appreciation for all of the volunteers that circulated petitions and engaged their neighbors in conversations about this important Naperville issue. The Yes At Large Committee now will turn its attention to voter education and promotion of a “YES” vote in the April 9 Consolidated Election.

According to Reschke, throughout the petition process, the Yes At Large Committee grew in size and in energy with an outpouring of volunteers to help the cause.

“We heard a real concern that with districts, our city politics would start looking like Chicago politics,” noted Reschke.

Yes At Large wants every member of Naperville City Council to be accountable to every voter in Naperville. Advocates think at large representation allows all the citizens to have access to and the attention of all the elected officials. Proponents also believe that at large representation is less costly than a district system; it doesn’t require budgets for geographic spending or additional spending to appease any special groups.

Obarski added that a perspective of  “what is best for all” was an important factor in the history of Naperville’s extraordinary development – leading to a highly-effective and openly collaborative city government, which successfully delivers the basic services and enriching amenities to all its citizens.

“This has served us well as Naperville has grown.” said Obarski.  “At-large representation is equally important to our future – for elected officials to consider the impact of their actions on all of the citizens, all the time. Not just a pocket or a special interest group. I believe the best decisions will be made if all our council members are considering what is best for all of Naperville.”

For more information, visit www.yesatlarge.com, call Rebecca Obarski (630) 355-8100 or email yesatlarge@gmail.com

A little history

Yes At Large Committee was founded in 2010 by a group of concerned Naperville citizens in response to the 2010 decision to move to a ward system of governance. Their goal is to educate voters and promote a YES vote for the following question on the April 9, 2013 Consolidated Election Ballot; Shall the city of Naperville elect city council at large instead of the councilmen at large and part of the councilmen from districts?

Since 1969, the City of Naperville has operated under the Council-Manager form ofgovernment. The City Council, consisting of eight members, is elected in 4-year terms, through at large elections. This means that each member of Council is elected to represent the entire City, and all of its residents.

In 2010, a group of petitioners set out to try to get the City split up into five districts in order to vote for councilmen for a particular district and not all at large. The proposed system called for five seats elected by ward district and the remaining three at large.

In November 2010 the Naperville City District Creation Referendum was approved, though a Judge quickly ruled that the redistricting of the city not take place until the 2015 elections since candidates already turned in petitions. Immediately enforcing this would require them to resubmit.

In the meantime, residents that opposed dividing our city into Districts came to see that a lack of awareness about the implications of the ballot question was wide spread. Believing that the community was not fully engaged in and aware of how this measure would affect local government had led to its passage. In addition, the polarizing politics of the November 2010 state and national elections and the fact that there were three consecutive ballot questions being considered, could have led to genuine confusion over the issue.

For more info, visit www.yesatlarge.com.

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